Parting With Players Is Such Sweet Sorrow

This week’s Orange County baseball rankings:

1. Cal State Fullerton. Lost to Pepperdine in College World Series final.

2. Chapman. Lost coach to Cal State Long Beach and program to Division III by 1994.

3. UC Irvine. Lost program, period.

4. Irvine High School. Lost to South Hills in 4-A final.

5. Those Angels. Lost in the American League.

Lost . . . and last.

Before the club’s top pitching prospect from Edmonton, Bert Blyleven, stopped the White Sox and a six-game losing streak on Thursday, the Angels owned the distinction alone. Last in the American League, last in the major leagues, last and counting the days until Colorado and Florida open their expansion seasons.

As it stands today, the Angels are 5-20 since May 13 and 23-35 overall, moving them past Cleveland and Houston into a tie with Seattle for the worst record in baseball. Their winning percentage of .397 is 25 points higher than John Kruk’s batting average and nine points lower than the poorest winning percentage in franchise history.

At this pace, the 1992 Angels are due to finish 64-98, beating the club’s previous low (65-95 in 1980) by a good series sweep.

It didn’t have to be this way.

With greater patience in the farm system, less reliance on free-agent fix-it kits, better front-office relations with their better players and clearer vision at the trading table, this team could be contending for the AL West championship as we speak.

Proof?

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you your 1992 California Ex- Angels:

First base: Wally Joyner. See for yourself tonight. He’ll be the one in the blue cap and sleeves, playing the same position Lee Stevens does and playing it somewhat differently. Joyner returns to Anaheim batting .304 with four home runs and 24 RBIs. Any more malingering and he’ll win the AL batting title.

Second base: Mark McLemore. Before spring training, he was baseball’s Nowhere Man--cut loose by the sorriest three organizations in the sport. (In chronological order, if nothing else: the Angels, the Indians, the Astros). Thrown a last chance by Baltimore, McLemore lost the chip on his shoulder, grabbed the life preserver and now is platooning with Billy Ripken. Outhitting him, too, with a .245 average, 16 RBIs and five stolen bases.

Third base: Carney Lansford. Doug DeCinces and Jack Howell have come and gone--and Gary Gaetti is waiting at the gate--and the Lansford trade of 1980 continues to haunt the Angels. Now 35, Lansford still hits for a decent average (.279), with twice as many RBIs as Gaetti and only one-third the errors.

Shortstop: Dick Schofield. Currently batting .227 with two home runs and 12 RBIs for the Mets. Some things will never change.

Left field: Dave Winfield. His .317 average is fifth-best in the American League. His 10 home runs and 34 RBIs are second on the Blue Jays to only Joe Carter. He says he feels good enough to play five more years, but last October, the Angels deemed him out to pasture.

Center field: Devon White. The .280s were never his neighborhood, but even a down-to-earth Devo (.237, seven home runs, 23 RBIs) looks better than most of the subterranean Angels. No ’92 Angel has hit more home runs and only Junior Felix and Hubie Brooks have as many RBIs.

Right field: Dante Bichette. Guess who’s leading the Robin Yount-Paul Molitor-Kevin Seitzer Milwaukee Brewers in batting average? Doug Rader had one thing right--Bichette was born to platoon--and by milking Bichette against left-handers while throwing Darryl Hamilton to the right-handers, Phil Garner has gotten the choicest cut of Beef possible: .336 with three home runs and 20 RBIs.

Catcher: Brian Harper. The Angels can’t develop catchers, right? Well, once upon a time, the Angels drafted Harper, ran him through their farm system, watched him drive in 122 runs for Salt Lake City in 1981 . . . and traded him three months later for, you got it, a 31-year-old infielder, Tim Foli. Foli helped the Angels win an AL West championship in 1982, but Harper has already played in two World Series (St. Louis ‘85, Minnesota ‘91) and is bucking for a third, batting .301 with 30 RBIs for the defending World Champions.

Designated hitter: Chili Davis. Chili’s off to a relatively slow start (.264, two home runs, 22 RBIs), but after last year, the Twins suspect they can live with it. For Chili’s 29 home runs and 93 RBIs during the pennant run of ‘91, the Twins will be indebted forever.

Luckily, the Angels have shown greater foresight with their pitchers--i.e., Jim Abbott, Chuck Finley and Bryan Harvey are still under contract. But at least one Hall of Famer has slipped away--see you Monday night, Nolan--along with some pretty good ones: Frank Tanana, Kirk McCaskill, Bob McClure, Carl Willis, Mike Fetters, Rich Monteleone.

Take a look at the lineups again. The What-Might-Have-Beens vs. The What-We’re-Left-Withs.

Which Angel team would you rather welcome home tonight?